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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27527776">Signature Move</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/7milemountain/pseuds/7milemountain'>7milemountain</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Avatar: The Last Airbender</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Aged up characters, Humor, M/M, Modern AU, Romantic Comedy, Swearing, Violence, Wrestling, microaggressions from ignorant neighbors, toxic father/son relationship</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-11-12</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-11-23</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-08 06:15:33</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Mature</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>3</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>8,187</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/27527776</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/7milemountain/pseuds/7milemountain</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Zuko is devastated when he is banished from his family's martial arts dynasty. However, a chance at redemption comes when his Uncle Iroh offers him the opportunity to train one of his best fighters. The one thing Zuko and Sokka are both convinced about is that this is going to be a disaster. Or will it?</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Aang/Katara (Avatar), Mai/Ty Lee (Avatar), Sokka/Zuko (Avatar)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>3</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>63</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Chapter 1</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Chapter One<br/>
After the fifth punch the lights started to dance in front of Zuko’s eyes. He landed on the mat with a thud, just in time to see Ozai’s golden-eyed disapproval boring through the haze. Bit by bit the roar of the crowd came back. Zuko reached a shaking hand to his lip to wipe away the blood and spit. Jet, the showboat that he was, was already doing a victory lap around the ring. Zuko scowled as well as he could with a black eye and staggered to his feet. “Not so fast, it’s not over until-“</p><p>Zuko woke up hours later in a hospital room. He looked over at the empty chairs and sighed. He reached around for the TV remote and switched on the television. He groaned as every cell cried out in protest. The first thing that came on TV was FKW: Four Kingdoms Wrestling. “Philistines.” Zuko muttered to himself as he watched Yue somersault backwards onto The Painted Lady. What he and his family did was noble. Azulon was the founding father of the Fire Kingdom School of martial arts. As Ozai would sneer at his son, “It takes honor to be a fire-bender.” </p><p>Zuko debated switching over but now that he had already expelled enough thumb strength to get this far, he may as well remind himself about what makes a true fighter.  Not that he was one. The Painted Lady looked as though she was about to scrape a victory when Yue did her signature move: the moon. Yue stood at the end of the post and positioned herself as The Painted Lady drank in the cheers from the crowd – Zuko had a painful flashback to his fight with Jet. Yue stood to her full height, unbeknownst to her The Painted Lady preened beneath, Yue posed to strike and then-</p><p>Ozai burst into the hospital room. The temperature in the room dropped thirty degrees. Zuko’s stomach flipped as his father strode over to him, grabbed the remote and jabbed a button on the TV screen. Nothing happened. Ozai scowled at the TV. He pressed another button and ended up on Jerry Springer.<br/>
Zuko didn’t know which was more painful, his set of broken ribs or this. “Father do you need me to…?”</p><p>“No,” Ozai snapped, “I’ve got it.” Two minutes and three talk shows later, the TV blinked off and Ozai drew himself up to his full height. “You have disappointed me. Again. As punishment I forbade any visitors to come here to see you.” Zuko tried to not let the words sting. “By allowing yourself to be defeated by Jet of all individuals, you have proven yourself to be dishonorable-”</p><p>Zuko could see where this conversation was going. His father had been threatening this for weeks. Fight after fight Zuko could expect two things: defeat and the onslaught of criticism from Ozai. There was no reasoning with his father and yet he had to try. “Father please!”</p><p>“Do not interrupt me!” Ozai’s eye’s blazed. “Your words will not help you when your actions have failed you. Twenty-five years old and still petulant like a little child! I am ashamed to call you my son, I am ashamed to have you representing the Fire Nation. One of these things is bound by blood the other is not. You are henceforth forbidden to compete in any Fire Kingdom tournament until you prove yourself worthy of the cause.” This time Zuko said nothing. He stared down at the bruises on his knuckles and tried not to let the tears fall. “What do you say to your generous father for giving you the opportunity to improve as a fighter?”</p><p>“Thank you, father.” Zuko said plainly.</p><p>Ozai smiled coldly. “You are welcome.” Ozai turned to leave the room. “Your independence starts now, I trust you can find your own way home.” He swept out of the room with a flourish of his robes, berated a nurse who walked into him and stormed down the corridor leaving his son’s world falling around him.<br/>
Zuko’s gaze fixed on one spot in the corner of the room as he tried not to descend into panic. His whole life was the Fire Nation. His whole life had always been the fire nation. The family motto was ‘If you can walk, you can fight’ so Zuko had been kicking almost as long as he had been walking. Though It didn’t come to him naturally, like it did with Azula, it was still all he knew. Azula is going to have a field day with this, Zuko thought bitterly.  He could practically hear the champagne popping from here. He didn’t have an education past high school and he had no work experience outside of knocking people out. Maybe he could be a security guard? Or a thug? Zuko didn’t even know how to get those kinds of jobs. How do you write a resumé to be a thug? The walls began to close in. Staving off hyperventilation Zuko reached for his phone and dialled the only person he knew would pick him up from the hospital.</p><p> Iroh turned up in a vehicle that Ozai snidely referred to as ‘The Monstrosity’: a Chevy pick up truck covered in bumper stickers with sayings like ‘after the darkest nights come the brightest dawns’, stickers from FNW and smiley faces. As Iroh pulled in he honked the car and waved Zuko over. Ozai hadn’t bothered to provide Zuko with a change of clothes, so he was currently modelling the latest collection from the hospital’s lost and found. Iroh eyed the Ben 10 t-shirt and Hawaiian board shorts as Zuko got in the car but said nothing. Zuko slumped in the passenger seat and stared glumly out of the window. From the corner of his eye, he could see Iroh look at him, searching for the right thing to say but there was nothing to be found.</p><p>“So nephew, where to?”</p><p>“Just the apartment.” Zuko muttered. He remembered himself. “Thanks. You know, for…”</p><p>Without taking his eyes off the road, Iroh smiled. “Of course. Anything for my favourite nephew.”</p><p>When Zuko was younger he would burst into giggles when Iroh said that. “Uncle! I’m your only nephew.” That was a long time a go and Zuko hadn’t giggled in a hot second. He felt like asking Iroh if he thought that Ozai was just joking and that maybe Zuko wasn’t really banished. Although, Zuko wasn’t sure he had ever heard Ozai tell a joke. Come to think of it, he couldn’t say for certain that he’d even heard Ozai laugh. He thought he did once, but he was just choking on a crumb.</p><p>Eventually, they wound up at Zuko’s apartment. As he leaned to get out he groaned in pain. “Garrrrrgghh-I’m fine, I’m fine, thank you again.” With all the grace of a thousand year old man, Zuko climbed out of the car avoiding Iroh’s concerned look. Before he turned to go, Iroh rolled down the driver’s seat window. </p><p>“You know, Zuko, I get lonely at the ring. Why don’t you come and visit sometime? Say hello to the fighters?” Iroh gave Zuko a warm smile that the young man couldn’t return.</p><p>“Sure, maybe.” </p><p>Zuko turned and walked into his apartment building. Once he was back in the shade he checked his phone. No one had tried to talk to him except for Ty Lee who sent a message reading: Heard you almost died!!:( Followed by: Oops, Azula says we’re not supposed to talk to you, feel better! Zuko locked his phone and started the long walk up the stairs.</p><p>*</p><p>They say that pains get worse the morning after and Zuko was living proof. He had dreams that an elephant was sitting on his solar plexus and when he woke up Nelly was gone but the pain was there threefold. He peeled open his eyes and gazed around the room. Zuko’s apartment could be homey but in the gloom, with piles of unwashed clothes and dishes the idea of staying inside all day made his insides turn. Best get used to it. This was his life now, these four walls and a potential career in thuggery. He decided to take Iroh up on his offer. </p><p>Zuko strained with effort for what felt like half an hour, a bead of sweat rolled down his forehead and he took heavy breaths. Finally, he was sitting up in bed. It took him an hour to get dressed and out of the door. By the time he locked his door, he was exhausted. Just as he was about to head downstairs, Lee, his next door neighbour came out. Great. </p><p>“Hey, Jackie Chan!” Zuko bristled. “You got that girl over?” Lee leaned against the wall with a lecherous grin.</p><p>“Huh?”</p><p>Lee snickered. “You know, that girl, sorta gothy looking? Hot though. I heard you in there and I thought to myself ‘wow, that guy’s got game’.”<br/>
Mai. </p><p>“Oh, no.” Zuko made a mental note to suffer more quietly from now on. He turned away from Lee and set off out.</p><p>“Catch you later!” </p><p>Zuko took a cab to Iroh’s  but on the way over he wasn’t sure if he had made a mistake. His father wanted him to prove his honor, what if he saw him crossing over to the dark side? Before Zuko could change his mind, the driver had taken his money and deposited him on the sidewalk of the old gym. Much like The Monstrosity, Iroh’s gym was wallpapered with posters advertising fights new and old, fans sometimes left letters for the fighters and flowers. Inside, it smelt like any other gym, sweaty and septic all at once. Zuko thought of his own state of the art practice gym with gleaming mirrors and felt a pang of homesickness.</p><p>There was no one in the front office so Zuko slunk to the seating area to watch the practice. The gym was a vast space with a practice ring on one end and a training suite on the other. The training suite was occupied with the other wrestlers, a couple Zuko recognised already. He lowered down slowly onto the folding chair, one hand on his ribcage. Iroh had his back to him near the ring below, reading from a clipboard. “Okay!” he called out, “Let’s see it!”<br/>
“WRESTLING FANS!” </p><p>Zuko jumped out of his skin and looked around to see the source of the noise. There was a young woman, holding a microphone in the press box high above the ring. “ARE YOU READY? LEGEND HAS IT HE’S THE ONLY MAN WHO CAN BRING PEACE TO THESE LANDS BUT HE’LL BRING THE PAIN IF HE HAS TO. IT’S THE A-A-A-VATAR!”</p><p>“Thank you, Toph!” Iroh called.</p><p>“No problem!” Toph called back.</p><p>From one end of the ring a young man in his early twenties burst out of the door. He wasn’t dressed in his full costume, just shorts and a t shirt. He skipped up to the stage. With light easy movements he somersaulted over the ropes into the ring. “Peace to all!” he shouted. </p><p>“AND FIGHTING HIM TONIGHT, ONCE A PRINCE OF THE WATER KINGDOM BUT NOW BRAINWASHED BY THE EVIL FIRE NATION, IT’S THE BOOMERANG.” Another young man entered the gym, ‘The Boomerang’. He was tall and handsome with a manbun although a couple of hairs had slipped over his eyes. He too skipped over to the ring in a decidedly un-evil manner, waving to the crowd. Zuko could see Iroh shaking his head. The Boomerang slipped into the ring and The Avatar began to circle him.</p><p>“Gr!” The Boomerang growled cheerfully, “I’m going to destroy you!” </p><p>The Avatar kept his movements, “This isn’t who you are, Boomerang. I know that there’ still good within you!” </p><p>“Oh yeah? Then why don’t you come and find it?” The Avatar lunged and they began their fight sequence. A few moves in there was a clear opening where The Boomerang was supposed to attack. The Avatar was slumped over a pillar taking his sweet time to recover. Even Zuko knew what was meant to happen. The Boomerang looked at him and hesitated.</p><p>“Okay, stop!” Iroh called out. The two guys on stage dropped their characters. The Boomerang sighed. “Sokka, we’ve spoken about this.” </p><p>“I can’t be evil! I just can’t do it. Why do I have to be evil anyway? Can’t it just turn out that this was all a dream or something?” Sokka ran his hands frustratedly through his hair. Whoa, triceps. </p><p>“Of course! But only once this storyline is complete.” Iroh’s tone was calm and even. Sometimes it amazed Zuko that he and Ozai even shared a zip code let alone DNA. </p><p>Sokka went to retort but his eyes flicked upwards to Zuko. Iroh followed his gaze and broke into a grin. “Zuko! Why don’t you come down?”</p><p>Zuko stood up, he felt unnerved with the gaze of the three men on him. New people always stared. He made the painstaking descent down the stairs, trying hard not to show the pain. Success. “Jesus Christ,” Sokka whistled low, “Do I want to see the other guy or are you the other guy?”</p><p>“Fuck off!” Zuko spat. Up close he could see that the guy, Sokka, had dark skin but sparkling blue eyes. Well not sparkling, erm, neutrally luminescent.<br/>
“Zuko!” Iroh turned to Sokka, “Be nice, he’s had a difficult couple of days.”</p><p>Whatever clever retort Sokka had died on his tongue. “Come on Aang, let’s go practice.” Aang ducked his head under the ring and Zuko saw an intricate tattoo painted on his bald head. </p><p>With a hand on his shoulder Iroh led Zuko to the kitchenette in the office. “Are you hungry?”</p><p>“No.”</p><p>Iroh handed Zuko a protein bar anyway and put on a pot of coffee. “So did you come here just to terrorize my wrestlers or are here to see your dear old uncle?”<br/>
Zuko looked out of the little window to where Sokka and Aang were practicing. “What’s up with that guy?”</p><p>Iroh shook his head, “Sokka is a talented wrestler but he hates being the heel. He is trying his best but he’s just not convincing enough as a bad guy. What he needs is someone with a vague aura of menace to show him the ropes.” Iroh chuckled, “That’s just a little wrestling humor.” He looked at Zuko and it was if a lightbulb went off. Zuko took a bite of the protein bar and then froze. </p><p>“What?” It dawned on him. He swallowed. “No, fucking way!”</p><p>Iroh feigned innocence, “I didn’t say anything!”</p><p>“You want me to help that guy be a proper wrestling villain.”</p><p>Iroh nonchalantly went about making the coffee, plucking mugs from the stacks of paper. “Do I?</p><p>Zuko glared. “It’s not going to happen.” Iroh didn’t say anything as he rinsed out the old coffee from the mugs. Zuko glanced back out at Sokka, what an asshole. “Uncle, do you hear me? It’s not going to happen.”</p><p>Iroh handed him a mug of coffee, “I hear you, nephew but just so you know, these things sometimes have a way of choosing us.” Zuko looked down at the cup and felt like throwing it. It was a novelty mug with The Boomerang’s face smirking back at him. There was absolutely no way. No way at all.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Chapter 2</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Hello! Thank you to everyone who left Kudos on the first chapter or a lovely comment, it is greatly appreciated. I'm really enjoying writing this fic and I hope that you enjoy reading it. I apologise in advance for any lack wrestling inaccuracies, I'm not an expert but I shall try my best.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Sokka watched as Zuko stormed out of the gym. Stormed might be a little generous, staggered with purpose would be more accurate. “So that’s the famous nephew, huh?” Sokka said half to Aang half to himself. Aang righted himself from a handstand and looked at the space where Zuko had once been.</p><p>“He seemed nice!” Aang declared brightly.</p><p>“Oh sweet summer child,” Sokka took Aang by the shoulders, “Now that is that we call a grade A asshole.” Aang shrugged Sokka off grabbed him in a headlock.</p><p>“WHAT HAPPENED?!” Toph bellowed from above. “DID YOU RUB SOMEONE UP THE WRONG WAY AGAIN?”</p><p>“Why don’t you come down here and I’ll rub you up the wrong way!” Sokka cried, then he winced, “You know what, I’m just hearing that and it sounds wrong.”</p><p>Toph disappeared from the microphone and reappeared in the main gym. “So you think you can take on the Blind Bandit, do you?” She called from the treadmills. Katara took out an earphone, rolled her eyes then went back to her 5K.</p><p>“Gladly!” Toph bounded over to the ring and did a move that she liked to call the Flying Badgermole which involved her leaping from all four posts of the ring and then backflipping her opponent into a slam. Sokka fell dramatically to the mat with a bang. “Ugh, I concede, I have been… defeated…” Sokka let his head loll and his tongue fall out of his mouth. Toph gave him a hand and when he was on his feet again, Iroh came over to the ring.</p><p>“Good news!” he called out clapping his hands together, “Zuko will be helping you work on your wrestling character, Sokka.”</p><p>Sokka huffed dramatically, “Yeah, where’s the good news?”</p><p>Toph put her hands on her hips, “He really agreed to work with Captain Shithead over here?”</p><p>Sokka put his hands over Aang’s ears, “Toph! Aang doesn’t know we call them that.” Sokka earned a good-natured kick from Aang.</p><p>“Zuko hasn’t exactly said the words out loud,” Iroh said slowly, “But I’m optimistic! Now, Captains Shithead, we’re going to need the ring. Katara and Toph are practicing their grudge match.”</p><p>Sokka let himself and Aang out of the ring and jumped down from the apron. Aang headed straight for the treadmills but Sokka much preferred circuits. He went into the office to get some paper to jot down his reps when he saw that Iroh had left the computer on. Sokka moved to turn it off when he spotted an email to Sokka’s old coach Piandao. The email simply read: <em>I hope he gets there</em>.</p><p>Sokka felt sick. He knew that he should just walk away. It was none of his business. He didn’t even know that they were talking about him. They could have been talking about Piandao’s nephew, backpacking around Europe and ‘there’ could be the Leaning Tower of Pisa. Sokka clicked on the email and his worst fears were confirmed:</p><p>Iroh to Piandao 10th August 11:12</p><p>
  <em>Hello, dear friend, </em>
</p><p>
  <em>I saw your boys in the A show for Wrestle Crazy and I thought that they were spectacular. They know just how to work the crowd. I’m having a bit of trouble with Sokka and since you know him so well, I thought you could share a bit of wisdom. He’s struggling with a new angle where he plays the brainwashed victim of The Fire Lord and I fear that the fans won’t buy it. Ordinarily, I would work with him, but much like the sprout, grown amongst the fallow land I do not have the resources to focus my attention on him. I am agent, trainer and choreographer to all five wrestlers and I cannot spare the time. He is a talented fighter but I fear what it means for him and for the gym if he- </em>
</p><p>Sokka closed down the computer. His hands shook as he took the paper from the printer and returned back to the gym. He looked at it all with new eyes; the old equipment, the threadbare costumes piled into the back cupboard and the rings under Iroh’s eyes. They had all assumed that once they made it on to local TV they were on the up and up but now Sokka saw the cracks and realised that he could be the one to shatter their chances.</p><p>Training for the rest of the day happened to Sokka but his mind was elsewhere. He was still skipping on the spot when the others were getting ready to go home. A few of them shared a house affectionately referred to as ‘The Fight Club’. It made sense when they were starting out. Constant protein powder in the sink and early morning training made them shitty roommates for non-wrestlers.</p><p>When they arrived back at the house, lines were drawn in the nightly battle for the TV. “I’m not watching <em>Indsidious</em> again!” Katara ran for the remote with Toph hot on her heels. Aang went to get started on dinner. Sokka went straight upstairs. He slung his stuff onto the floor and sat down on his bed, feeling the full weight of the day. Iroh had taken such a gamble by choosing a green set of wrestlers for the TV show, Sokka owed him everything. And he was blowing it. He lay back on the bed and rested his hands on his stomach, breathing slowly. He heard footsteps rush up the stairs and Katara appeared red-faced at the door. “Will you please tell her… is everything okay?”</p><p>Sokka sat up and managed a weak smile. “Sure. I’ll be down in a sec.”</p><p>Katara stepped into the room and wrapped her brother into a hug. “You’ll get it.”</p><p>“I know,” Sokka said into her hair.</p><p>“Are you gonna call Zuko?” Katara pulled away.</p><p>Laughing bitterly, Sokka shook his head. “I think I’m the last person he’d want to hear from.”</p><p>Katara pulled a face. “I think he’d be lucky to get anyone’s calls. He’s been on a losing streak for the past couple of months.”</p><p>“How do you know this anyway?” Sokka teased.</p><p>Katara shrugged enigmatically and backed away from the door. She hurried back downstairs and Sokka heard the shouting start back up. He stood up and rolled the tension out of his shoulders. Then he went down himself, “Did anybody say, <em>F</em><em>ast and Furious</em>?”</p><p>The uproar was unanimous.</p><p>*</p><p>Zuko agreed to meet him at the park. Sokka was surprised that he’d agreed to meet him at all. When he’d called Iroh to get his number, Iroh had wished him luck. “Although, I won’t need it, right?”</p><p>Iroh had left a pregnant pause. “Bye, Sokka!”</p><p>Sokka arrived a little late to find Zuko already sitting on a park bench, scowling at the ducks. Usually the park was filled with joggers and families wrangling escaping toddlers but it was a grey day and there was no one around except Zuko and the ducks. Sokka sat down beside him. Zuko turned to him and Sokka felt as though he’d been punched in the stomach. Zuko was hot, like really hot. Like the kind of hot that makes poets write sonnets and gets you free coffee. Locks of dark hair fell over his shoulders, he had these pouty lips and surely his eyes couldn’t be golden-</p><p>“What?” Zuko snapped.</p><p>Sokka shook himself out of his reverie. “Huh, what was that?”</p><p>Zuko frowned. “You were staring at me. Is it the scar?”</p><p>“No! No! I just space out sometimes, ask anyone, Space Cadet Sokka that’s what they call me.” He laughed nervously. Zuko looked unconvinced but his fury abated slightly. Sokka cleared his throat. “I think we got on the wrong foot yesterday. And maybe just now.”</p><p>“No shit.”</p><p>“I think that maybe we could help each other?”</p><p>“What’s that supposed to mean?” Zuko snapped. Sokka was beginning to lose his temper too, “Fuck, man, are you always like this?” “I don’t suffer fools gladly.” Zuko folded his arms.</p><p>“Then how do you live with yourself?” Sokka snapped back. “Look man I just came here to say sorry for yesterday and ask for your help. But you know what? This isn’t going to work.” Sokka stood up to leave. Across the duck pond one of the joggers threw an empty can onto the ground. “Asshole.” Sokka muttered. Zuko looked up at him strangely. “Anyway, sorry to bother you.” Before he walked away he turned around. “And I wasn’t staring at your scar. You're just..." 'very hot' was not the appropriate thing to say at this juncture, "...you just look like someone I knew, that’s all.”</p><p>“Wait!” Sokka paused.</p><p>Zuko looked everywhere but at him. “I’ll do it. Whatever.” Sokka felt a rush of joy and almost went to hug the guy. “Not for you. For Iroh.” Zuko added quickly.</p><p>“Thank you! Thank you! When do we start? I can do Tuesday. Or Friday-”</p><p>Zuko fixed his golden gaze onto Sokka.</p><p>“Right now.” The drive over to Iroh’s was strained not least because Zuko seemed as though he was still in massive amounts of pain. He clutched his side all through the drive and winced every time they hit a bump.</p><p>“Are you okay, man? We have tiger balm and ooh Katara, my sister, did a course in sports massage, apparently she’s got magic hands but that’s a bit weird to think about your sister as having magic hands not that there’s anything-”</p><p>“I’m fine.” Zuko said curtly.</p><p>“You say that but you’re very clearly not.”</p><p>“Well you’re very clearly a dick.” Sokka snorted.</p><p>“Takes one to know one.”</p><p>“What are you, ten?” Zuko muttered.</p><p>“I’m <em>a</em> ten.” Zuko didn’t respond but Sokka thought that he might have seen the beginnings of a smile. Whatever goodwill that might have been dissipated as soon as they got into the gym and Zuko demanded that Sokka do a hundred push ups. Surely he wasn’t hearing properly.</p><p>“A hundred push ups.” Zuko repeated, sinking into a chair. “Now.”</p><p>“Can I ask why?” Sokka didn’t mind training hard but he wasn’t going to let himself be tortured.</p><p>“No.”</p><p>Sokka’s hackles rose. “I don’t see how this is going to help me with my character.”</p><p>Zuko paused. “You have no sense of discipline. It’s obvious. You just do whatever you want and you don’t want to be the bad guy.”</p><p>“Oh wow, you’ve got me all figured out. I should stop paying for therapy!”</p><p>“You want my help, this is my help. Do a hundred push ups.”</p><p>Sokka looked around but everybody else was training. Yue and Toph were practising for the next match. Aang was spotting Katara on the weights machine. There was no one around to fight his corner. Wrestling humor. Finally, Sokka spotted Iroh in the office. He gave a thumbs up and Sokka felt a wave of guilt. “Fine.” He sank to his knees and started the push ups. The torture didn’t finish there, in fact, it didn’t even start there. Zuko made him do burpees, squats, sit ups and Russian twists. All the while, lounged on his throne like Simon Cowell. Sokka was sure that he must have been getting some kind of sick thrill from watching him suffer. After Sokka finished a particularly gruelling set of squat jumps, he gave up trying to stand and lay there panting up at the rafters. He looked over at Zuko. For a moment he thought that the man might be merciful.</p><p>“Bear crawls.”</p><p>Sokka whimpered. “I need a break. Come on, man.” Sokka slung an arm over his eyes and waited for his heart to return to normal. “When I was training, my father had me do twice this every day as a warm up until I was ready to fight. If I had tried to say ‘come on, man’ he would have thrown me out of the gym for insolence.”</p><p>Sokka rolled onto his side. “Your father sounds delightful. Is he around for brunch?” Zuko was unmoved. “Please, Zuko, I may really die.”</p><p>“Fine, you can have sixty seconds. Then bear crawls.” Zuko leant back into his chair. Sokka looked at him for a second. “Are you counting me?”</p><p>“Forty seconds left.” Sokka stumbled to his feet, legs trembling. He took a swig of water and shook out his aching muscles.</p><p>“Bear crawls.” Sokka whined.</p><p>When Iroh finally called lunch, Sokka could have kissed him. He bounded over to the kitchenette and brought out his lunch. Toph gave him a noogie and Iroh set about brewing his ‘special tea’ which tasted like death but did revitalise them after a long workout. Sokka noticed that Zuko hovered at the edge before heading out of the gym.</p><p>“Nephew, will you join us?” Iroh called.</p><p>“I have errands to run.” Zuko replied as he swept out of the gym. The others watched him, bewildered.</p><p>“Jeez, what’s with him?” Toph muttered, tearing into her pasta.</p><p>“Not everyone likes big groups.” Katara replied a little shortly.</p><p>“Are you mad because we watched <em>Insidious</em> again?”</p><p>Katara huffed, “I woke up in the night and I thought that demons were under my bed. We are not watching that film again.”</p><p>“Fine,” Toph conceded, “We can watch the sequel.”</p><p>As the girls squabbled, Sokka thought about where Zuko might be going. He could have friends elsewhere, or a girlfriend. Sokka hurried the thought away. He didn’t want to do something silly like get a crush on the guy. Anyway, the further away Zuko was from the gym, the further Sokka was from ten reps of lunges.</p><p>Zuko finally returned and headed straight for the plastic chair. Sokka was waiting for the next round of conditioning. To his surprise Zuko asked to be shown the routine. Sokka wasn’t about to look a gift horse in the mouth. “So I walk in from there, me and Aang fight and then I lose but I pretend to lose and once Aang is off the stage I get up and promise to get revenge.”</p><p>Zuko went to cross one leg over the other but then thought better of it. “Let’s see the walk.” Sokka started at one end of the gym and skipped lightly towards the ring. “No!” Zuko barked. “You’re supposed to be mean.” Sokka tried again, only this time his skip was a little less bright. “No.” Zuko thought for a moment. “How would you walk towards me if I told you that at the end of the walk was a hundred more push-ups?” Sokka tensed up, his mouth set into an irritated line and he stalked towards the ring. “Better.” Zuko announced.</p><p>Sokka brightened up again. “Really?” Zuko nodded.</p><p>“Hey Iroh, check out this walk!” Sokka repeated the walk and Iroh smiled.</p><p>“A great improvement, Sokka!”</p><p>“Only the entire routine to go!” Toph called out.</p><p>Sokka flipped her the bird and turned back to Zuko. “Okay, what’s next?”</p>
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<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Chapter 3</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Sokka was being impossible. If there was one thing that Zuko had learned in his brief time in the other man’s company it was that Sokka was absolutely impossible at most times. Zuko was waiting for him to start the fight. But he was too busy giving Aang a high stakes piggyback around the gym. Sokka had bet Katara that he could do a blindfolded obstacle course with Aang on his back and despite the fact that it was a complete waste of time, Sokka took painstaking care with each obstacle laid out. Once he had successfully cleared the obstacle course and collected his $5 from Katara. Sokka bet he could do it with Aang standing on Sokka’s shoulders. Zuko had had enough.</p><p>“No, that’s enough. Sokka let’s go!” Sokka looked over. He whispered something to Toph and she laughed. Zuko turned red. “The show is tomorrow night, now is not the time to fuck around.” Sokka rolled his eyes and Zuko felt his blood boil. Aang bounded up to the ring ready for business but Sokka sauntered as slow as he could. Once he reached Zuko he grinned, and gave him a wink before sliding into the ring. Zuko’s face grew warmer. With anger of course. Sokka thought that just because he was handsome and charming that he could get away with anything. Sokka and Aang started on their routine. To his credit, Sokka was much better than the first time Zuko saw him, there was a greater degree of menace to his movements. When he grabbed Aang in a headlock Zuko believed the danger more. The scene culminated in Aang’s signature move, he’d convene with the spirit realm, the lights would dim and Aang would levitate above the ring before landing on Sokka, wiping him out completely. Only as Aang was levitating on the harness, Sokka got distracted making faces at Toph. Zuko saw the ensuing disaster, Aang was about to clatter onto an unsuspecting Sokka, “SOKKA MOVE.” Sokka escaped to the apron just in time. The only recipient of Aang’s slam was the floor of the ring. “Why are you not paying attention?” Zuko’s words echoed around the whole gym.</p><p>Sokka looked sheepish, “I made a mistake. I’m sorry.”</p><p>Zuko jabbed a finger in Sokka’s direction. “You asked for my help yet you seem completely unwilling to take it. You’re supposed to be a professional but this,” Zuko swept a hand in front of Sokka, “is pitiful. Call me when you’re ready to work.”</p><p>Zuko clutched his ribs while he rose slowly from the chair. Sokka and Aang just watched him. Aang made to help him but Zuko shook his head. Once he was upright, he gathered up his things and left the gym.</p><p>*</p><p>Azula answered the door of her apartment draped in a long satin gown, her hair was in rollers. She looked Zuko up and down as a catlike sneer curled across her face. “Well, well, well, if it isn’t little Zuzu. Whatever it is you’ll have to make it quick, I have a lunch with sponsors to get ready for.” Azula floated inside, letting the door almost hit Zuko in the face. Azula’s apartment was bathed in light from floor to ceiling windows. All of her furniture was red, except a black baby grand piano in the corner. Azula had once said that red furniture would hide the blood stains, Zuko didn’t know whose blood she was referring to. She reclined on the sofa and waited disinterestedly for Zuko to start talking.</p><p>Zuko tried not to give away his nerves, Azula could sense weakness from miles away. “I need your help to get back in.”</p><p>Azula’s expression didn’t shift an inch. “What’s wrong? Is working with Iroh’s circus act not going quite as well as you’d hoped?” Before Zuko could speak Azula waved a dismissive hand, “Yes, yes, I know all about it. I don’t know what possessed you to…” Azula choked on a laugh, “…coach <em>wrestling</em>!” She cackled for a while. “You must have been hit harder in the head than we thought.”</p><p>“I’m doing fine in case you were wondering.” Zuko muttered.</p><p>“Clearly, or you would still be in hospital, or dead.” She said ‘dead’ like another person would say ‘at Target’. “There is a way you can get back in, father is organizing an exhibition match tomorrow for the board, Jet will be there.”</p><p>“If I win, father will let me fight again?” Zuko’s side throbbed painfully as if to remind him that he couldn’t so much as roll out of bed.</p><p>“He’d certainly consider it.” Azula drawled.</p><p>“When?”</p><p>“Tomorrow night.” The night of Sokka’s match. Zuko hesitated. Leaving the gym high and dry would be a shitty thing to do to Sokka but then again, he had proven time and time again that he didn’t have the drive to work hard enough.</p><p>“I’m in.” Zuko said at last.</p><p>Azula gave her brother a bone-chilling smile. “Great. I’ll text you the details. Of course at some point I’ll expect you to do something for me.” Zuko nodded. “And Zuko, you will be okay to fight won’t you? I hear you had some nasty injuries.”</p><p>“I’ll be fine.” Zuko imagined taking a punch and his hands grew clammy.</p><p>*</p><p>The gym was empty when Zuko let himself in. At the Fire Nation gym, fighters would still be training into the early hours of the morning. Zuko switched on the lights and heard the thunk of the bulbs as the gym lit up. He shrugged off his jacket and lay down his bag. A warm up, he told himself, start with a warm up. He started with the cross trainer, pain shot through his shoulder where Jet had landed a kick. Zuko powered through until his vision started to blur. He stopped, breathing heavily. It would be better just to get straight to it, he wasn’t going to defeat Jet with cardio. Zuko lifted the top rope and ducked underneath it. “Mother<em>fucker!”</em> He swore as his ribs protested. Zuko took a moment for the pain to subside before moving a little on his feet. He attempted a simple front kick, just to test the waters. He lifted his leg and charged power through it. As the kick reached its apex Zuko lost his balance and crashed back on the mat. His vision went white.</p><p>For the first time since the fight, Zuko broke down in tears. He couldn’t do it. He couldn’t do anything. He was going to die on that mat. He sobbed into the empty gym when he saw the door open. Sokka came in with his headphones on, he looked around at the lights and spotted Zuko on the mat. He dropped his things and rushed over to him. “You’ve got to be f-fucking kidding me.” Zuko cried.</p><p> “Oh my god, what happened?” Sokka slid under the bottom rope careful not to budge the ring.</p><p>“Nothing, I’m fine. Please leave.”</p><p>Sokka patted around for his phone. “I’m calling an ambulance.”</p><p>“No!” Zuko said. “Really, I just need a minute.” He wiped the tears from his face. He moved to stand up but hissed in pain and sank back down. Sokka moved towards him.</p><p>“Let me help you,” Sokka said gently.</p><p>“No. I don’t need your help.” There was no way Zuko was going to be carried out of the ring by Sokka of all people.</p><p>“Fine.” Sokka said and sat in one corner.</p><p>“What are you doing?” Zuko wheezed.</p><p>Sokka brought out his phone and starting scrolling. “You won’t accept my help, that’s fine but I’m not going anywhere.”</p><p>Second by second the pain was easing. “Why are you here anyway?”</p><p>“I left my charger in my locker, why are you here?”</p><p>Zuko decided that it was tough to have the upper hand when you were lying immobile on the floor, face blotchy with tears. “I was trying to train for a fight, a rematch with Jet.”</p><p>Sokka laughed. He kept laughing. He laughed so hard that he began to cough on air. “That’s the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard!”</p><p>“I’m not taking that from…” Zuko gasped, “…Mr Self Destruction. You think I don’t know what you’re doing? You’re afraid to fail so you’re blowing it on purpose.”</p><p>Sokka was quiet for a moment. “Is that what you did?”</p><p>Zuko turned his head away. “You should leave.” Sokka didn’t move.</p><p>After a while Zuko drew his knees to his chest. Sokka moved carefully over to him and put his arms around Zuko’s shoulders. His protestations melted away as the other man helped him slowly to his feet and soon Zuko was leaning his weight on Sokka. He was warm and smelt like laundry powder. Zuko wasn’t smelling him on purpose it was just that he was so close so he couldn’t help but notice his smell, or how strong his arms were. That’s all. Nothing weird about it. Zuko didn’t even notice that they were at the car until Sokka was opening the door and helping him inside.</p><p>They drove in silence. Sokka headed towards the park where they had met, where Lee had thrown away a can of soda and Sokka called him an asshole. No one could say that he wasn’t a good judge of character. Sokka peered out of the windscreen to find Zuko’s building. Zuko pointed at a tall building in between a hair salon and a bank. “There.” Sokka pulled up.</p><p>“Can I just ask, when’s the fight?” Zuko couldn’t bring himself to say the words. Sokka understood. “Right. Okay well- good luck with it all.”</p><p>“You too.” Zuko said, believing that those were the last words he would ever say to Sokka. Then he remembered he still had to get out of the car. “Would you- could you lend me a hand?”</p><p>*</p><p>The next day, Zuko felt sick with nerves. He had no idea how he was going to make it into the ring let alone make it through a fight with one of the Fire Nation’s toughest fighters. His mind swam with thoughts of the fight, the look on his father’s face, the look on Iroh’s face when he realized that his nephew wasn’t going to be at the match. He didn’t so much sleep as he did slip in and out of consciousness, sometimes dreaming sometimes staring up at his ceiling in the darkness.</p><p>Zuko couldn’t manage a single bite of food so when evening came around he was exhausted. When the taxi driver arrived downstairs Zuko’s phone rang and the shrill ring cut through the silence of his apartment. His heart skipped a beat when he gave the address of the gym. Home at last. The driver set off and Zuko’s panic rose. His phone rang: Azula. Zuko spoke before his brain could register what he was doing, “I’m so sorry, this is the wrong place, can you take me to a different address?”</p><p>Twenty minutes later Zuko pulled up outside the venue. He could already hear the chants and singing from the crowds. The theatre wasn’t huge, made for travelling musicals rather than wrestling but it still gave Zuko a sense of it all. He passed throngs of people wearing t shirts with Katara’s face on them. He asked at the information desk where the wrestlers were. “I’m with Iroh.” The lady at the desk didn’t look convinced but she made a call.</p><p>“Okay, honey, go outside and it’s the next door on the left.”</p><p>Zuko thanked her and left. The backstage area was full of producers, production assistants and stage managers. Inside the crowd was even louder, the noise thundered around the theatre. Zuko passed through unnoticed until he made it to the green room for Iroh’s stable. The room was awash with activity, Yue was putting the finishing touches on her make-up, Katara and Toph were stretching out and Sokka was running through his routine with Aang. Iroh was in the theatre, co ordinating with the crew. Sokka was the last one to notice Zuko’s arrival. The others turned silent as he came in.</p><p>“Guys, what is it?” Toph asked.</p><p>“Zuko’s here.” Yue said in a stage whisper.</p><p>Sokka turned around and his eyes widened as he noticed Zuko. His costume was blue leather shorts lined with fur, blue and white paint covered his muscled torso. “Sorry I’m late.”</p><p>“I didn’t think you were coming.” Sokka said.</p><p>Zuko didn’t know what to say, he didn’t know how to explain. “We’ve got work to do.” He crossed the room and sat with Sokka and Aang. The others returned to their match preparations. “Sokka I did some research on the way over here and I think it might help if you didn’t think of yourself as being a bad guy but trying to piss off the crowd.”</p><p>“What’s the difference?” Sokka narrowed his eyes.</p><p>“You have a knack for getting on people’s nerves-”</p><p>“Told you!” Toph called.</p><p>“-just think of the crowd as a thousand of me, do everything you can to get them to boo.”</p><p>“First things first,” Sokka held up a finger, “You’re going to mansplain wrestling to me? Brave. Secondly, the idea of a whole audience of you is a deeply cursed image. Thirdly,” Sokka sighed, “That actually makes a little more sense. I’m not a bad guy I’m…”</p><p>Zuko smiled. “An asshole.”</p><p>Toph and Yue fought first and the men watched from the screen inside the green room. The crowd went berserk for The Badgermole but Yue pulled it out of the bag with a last minute suplex that sent Toph rolling out of the ring. As Yue drank in the cheers from the crowd. Katara appeared in a shock entrance and delivered a kick that sent Yue flipping over the top rope. The ref called the match and Katara reigned supreme.</p><p>After the commercials it was Sokka’s time to go. Zuko wished them both luck as they headed off. Zuko breathed out some of the nerves. It was crunch time. Zuko’s nerves jangled as Aang was announced. “<em>WEIGHING IN AT 170LBS AND SIX FOOT. LET’S GIVE SOME NOISE FOR THE KEEPER OF THE PEACE, THE BRIDGE BETWEEN THIS WORLD AND THE NEXT IT’S THE AVATARRRRR.” </em>The crowd cheered so loudly Zuko wasn’t sure what he was hearing inside the theatre and on the screen. Aang slid into the ring and waved to his fans. “<em>AND NOW, IT’S THE PRINCE OF THE WATER TRIBE BUT NOT AS YOU KNOW HIM. HE’S SIX FOOT FOUR, 200LBS AND BRAINWASHED BY THE FIRE LORD IT’S BOOMERANG.” </em>Zuko’s heart caught in his mouth. Sokka swaggered up to the ring as if he had all the time in the world. At first the crowd wasn’t sure what to make of it until he mimed yawning and checking his watch. That’s when the boos came in. Pride bloomed in Zuko’s chest. Sokka took a seat on the front row, plucked the programme out of an audience member’s hand and started to read it.</p><p>“<em>What’s this?</em>” The commentators were aghast, “<em>Are you seeing this Bob? It’s almost like The Boomerang Prince cannot be bothered to fight The Avatar.”</em></p><p>
  <em>“Neil in all my years of wrestling I have never seen such disrespect for the sport.”</em>
</p><p>Onscreen, the referee began gesticulating for Sokka to get in the ring. He tossed the programme over his shoulder and lazily swung himself in. He gave the crowd a shit-eating grin and yawned again as the boos increased in volume. The bell rang and Aang pleaded with Sokka. “I know there’s still some good in you!”</p><p>Sokka pulled an innocent face. “You’re right!” Aang moved closer and when he got close enough, Sokka’s expression change and he drop kicked Aang right in the chest. Aang somersaulted over the top rope and fell in a heap out of the ring. Sokka jumped down, grabbed the programme from earlier, sat on Aang’s chest and pretended to keep reading.</p><p>
  <em>“Without a care in the world, it looks as though The Boomerang could win this!” </em>
</p><p>Aang shoved Sokka out of his lap, grabbed Sokka by the waistband of his shorts and spun him until he collapsed against the side of the ring. Cheers rang around the theatre. Sokka recovered, heaving with anger. He rushed into the ring and shoved the referee aside. Aang turned around just as Sokka lifted him above his head only to drop him in a slam. Aang remained on the ground as the referee began to count. Zuko was on the edge of the seat even though he knew what came next. Aang began to mutter, the lights in the stadium dimmed as blue spotlights shone on Aang. The harness descended and he grabbed a hold of it. Once he was a few feet in the air he slammed back down to the mat, sending Sokka crashing to the ground. Aang grabbed Sokka’s leg in a hold and the referee began to count, the crowd chanting with them then it was over. Aang had won, the crowd exploded into elation. Aang fell to his knees and thanked the spirits. Sokka staggered to his feet. “<em>This isn’t over Avatar, I will have my victory!” </em></p><p>He was drowned out by the booing.</p><p>Iroh threw a little celebration later that night. He brought tea and little homemade cakes. Once everyone had had there share he rose solemnly and tinkled his tea spoon on his cup. The group stopped talking to listen to him. “We have all done exceedingly well this evening. Toph, Katara and Yue fought excellently, the Flying Badgermole is turning out to be a fan favorite!” Toph received a round of back patting. “Aang, you perfected the finishing move and proved yourself to be a worthy opponent.” Sokka planted a kiss on Aang’s forehead. “Sokka, I always had faith in you, but I know that it wasn’t easy to get to where you got tonight. You were excellent.” The whole table whooped and cheered, Zuko clapped politely. “And last but not least, Zuko, you came to us in our time of need. I am so deeply proud of you.” Nobody dared to breach Zuko’s personal space but he did get some of the loudest cheers of that night. Outwardly, Zuko was the picture of restrained appreciation, inwardly he was glowing.</p><p>Katara hooked up her phone to the speakers and dancing began. Zuko couldn’t dance if he wanted to, which he did not, so he sat on his stool and nursed his cup of tea. After a while, Sokka slipped beside him. “I owe you the biggest thanks.”</p><p>“It’s fine.”</p><p>“No seriously man,” Sokka leaned forwards, fixing Zuko in place with those sparkly eyes, “Thank you.”</p><p>Zuko swallowed. “You’re welcome.”</p><p>Sokka held out his hand and Zuko shook it. Sokka smiled, “Looks like we’re going to make a good team after all.” The handshake continued.</p><p> </p>
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